In the aftermath of convicted sex offender and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent suicide in a Manhattan jail, the focus has shifted to his inner circle in a scramble to uncover how exactly the multimillionaire made his money, the extent of his crimes, and who participated in his alleged misdeeds.
Indyke’s long association with EpsteinIn Darren Keith Indyke’s 1982 senior yearbook, he wrote that in the year 2002 he would be “‘performing’ [his] first case for the Supreme Court quoting Al Pacino.” Instead, Indyke, who went on to graduate from Cornell Law School, was filing paperwork for Epstein. Charity workThe documents that bear Indyke’s and Epstein’s names speak to where the latter hoped to exert or build his influence and how Indyke helped Epstein do so.
In March 2015, then-New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s Charities Bureau was reportedly looking into whether Epstein’s foundation was meeting state registration requirements. It’s not clear whether anything came of the inquiry, and Schneiderman himself resigned in 2018 following claims that he’d assaulted several women.In March 2005, a then-14-year-old girl and her parents claimed that Epstein sexually abused her at his Palm Beach, Florida, mansion.
For his work-release, Epstein worked at The Florida Science Foundation, his not-for-profit that said it aimed to “to finance scientific research on academic, organizational and individual levels,” according to the organization’s articles of incorporation. Records show that Indyke registered The Florida Science Foundation in November 2007, just after he signed the non-prosecution agreement.
Upon release, Epstein copied Indyke on emails pertaining to his status as a sex offender. Emails produced by his defense team showed Epstein copied Indyke on four email messages, sent between July 2012 and July 2015, to a detective in New Mexico while spending time at his Zorro Ranch vacation home. Separately, Indyke also helped Maxwell buy a 7,000-square-foot townhouse at 116 East 65th street in 2000, according to New York City property records. The New York Times reports that the townhouse was bought for $4.95 million by an anonymous limited liability company — 116 East 65th Street, LLC — that shared an address with J. Epstein & Co.
In addition to Prosperi and Maxwell, Indyke also has ties to Groff, a longtime Epstein assistant accused in a civil lawsuit of making travel arrangements for underage girls who were abused by him. She lists herself as an “executive assistant” at “DKI PLLC” on her LinkedIn profile. Public records show that Indyke’s law practice is called DKI PLLC. But his 575 Lexington Avenue address is a “virtual office” — there was no law office there, and the building is now home to a WeWork.
Epstein, in turn, sublet the building to Ivan Fisher, a well-known criminal defense attorney, for $20,000 a month, the Daily News reported. The U.S. government sued both Epstein and Fisher, claiming the sublet was illegal, and court records tie Schantz to the rental property. The lawsuit suggests that Epstein was connected to James Baker III, who was secretary of state from 1989 to 1992 during the George H.W. Bush administration. At one point, according to court records, Schantz was asked, “Do you know how Mr. Epstein came to know Secretary of State James Baker?” to which he responded “No.”